NeonHorizon: I also have a Hawks story now, if you're also into Hawks. Also this chapter contains some mature stuff that isn't swearing.


He was used to Sayuri coming home from work and looking kind of tired, but she always seemed to perk up a little after being home for a while. Today was different. Dabi was lounging on the couch, as he did every day, when she got home.

He immediately noticed the paint splotches dried on her sweater and jeans. The glitter shimmering in her hair and ingrained into her right cheek. When she had left, her hair was back in a ponytail and now it looked absolutely ragged.

Sayuri turned her back to him so she could lock the door and she paused, leaning her forehead against the door. I'm a mess. I probably look I just crawled out of a sewer. I didn't want him to see me like this; I hoped he would be out.

"What happened to you?"

She took a deep breath and turned around. Sayuri trudged across the room and collapsed on top of Dabi on the couch, sliding her arms around his neck and burying her face in his chest. "I don't want to talk about it."

Snickering, he draped an arm across her lower back. "Don't tell me you're worn out already. I wanted to-"

"Namimoto didn't show up for work today. He didn't call…he didn't say anything to anyone. So we couldn't get a temp to cover his class. I had a group of…around three dozen kindergartners…all packed into my classroom. My lesson plan for today was only for my class so I didn't have enough worksheets. I panicked and had a craft day, but three dozen kindergartners is a lot of kids to handle."

Before she could push herself up so she could look at him, she felt his arm tighten around her and pull her down again so her cheek was pressed against his chest. "Tch. That coworker sounds like trash," he murmured, running his fingers through her hair.

"He isn't usually like this. I'm…actually kind of worried. Namimoto never does stuff like that this. What if something-?"

"You're seriously that worried? Didn't he flake on you before? He's useless."

"He's my coworker!" Sayuri forcefully pushed herself up, but felt one of his knees slide between her legs. Warmth rose to her cheeks and the young woman bit her lip, hating how she reacted this way to Dabi even after having such a rough day. No matter what she went through, he always had this effect on her. It made it difficult for her to stay upset.

Dabi's eyes narrowed for a moment and he tilted his head. He stared up at her until his lips finally drew into a grin. The hand that was running through her hair cupped her cheek and he rubbed his thumb over the glitter that decorated her skin. "You're pretty cute when you're pissed off."

She turned away and sighed. It was too hard for her to hold onto her anger. Especially when he was acting this way. "I'm exhausted," she finally confessed.

"Too bad. We're out of food." He pushed himself to sit upright, holding her on his lap. Dabi lifted a hand to ruffle his already messy black hair and smirked. "Maybe if you change and wash off the glitter, I'll take you out."

Sayuri's pulse sped up and she raised a pale eyebrow as she regarded him. "Are you asking me on a date…?" she asked with hesitation. If she was wrong and he laughed at her, she knew she would die a little on the inside.

"You wanna call it that?"

"N-no, it doesn't have to be called anything. I'll be back." She grabbed some clean clothes and slipped into the bathroom to clean up a little. It was as she was pulling on a clean sweater that something occurred to her.

She had never seen Dabi spend money. He never bought anything so she just assumed that he was broke. She was pretty sure he was unemployed since he was usually home when she left and he was almost always still there when she returned from work. So the fact that he was offering to take her out was a little strange. Any time they went out for groceries, she always paid.

Of course, Sayuri wanted to believe that he just had a little money and was cautious about spending it. Which would be completely fine with her. She would understand since he was probably unemployed. Instead of dwelling on the issue, she decided to focus on the fact that they were actually going out together.

It was normal to eat together and, of course, she often brought food home. They had never gone out somewhere for food together so this was starting to feel like a real date. It made her feel kind of bubbly; giddy and excited about what was sure to be a romantic evening. Something amazing to take her mind off of her rough day at work.

They settled on an udon place and they were seated near a window. Dabi slouched a little in his seat, eyes fixed on Sayuri as the young woman stared outside at the swirling snow. "Still worried about that guy?"

She tensed in her seat and flitted her gaze toward Dabi before she awkwardly started toying with a strand of hair. "I mean…of course, I am. It's not normal for him to just disappear like this. Usually if he was going to be gone, he would've at least told someone. No one knows what's going on with him. I heard someone tried calling him, but…no luck."

Their bowls of noodles were placed in front of them, a couple of mugs of beer alongside them. Dabi watched Sayuri blow on her meal for a while, her face flushing a bright pink when she caught him staring. He smirked and shook his head. "Shouldn't worry about that guy if he's going to blow you off."

Sayuri frowned and half-shrugged. It was strange that Namimoto would just disappear, but Dabi was right. Worrying about her coworker would do nothing. Namimoto might have just been out sick for the day. He might return to work the next day and she could joke with him about taking his class from him.

Shift P.O.V

He did not like that she was dwelling so much on her coworker's disappearance. Their grocery shopping was complete, but the whole time they were in the store, she was clearly distracted. Now Dabi was watching her put away the groceries, leaning against the wall beside the fridge with his arms crossed.

Her soft, pink lips were drawn into a small frown as she worked. She moved automatically; clearly not focused on what she was doing as her thoughts were occupied with something else. As cute and innocent as her worried face appeared, Dabi found himself getting increasingly annoyed with the way she fixated on her coworker.

Jealousy was making his blood start to boil and he ran his fingers through his hair. Sayuri opened a cupboard and leaned up as much as she could, trying to get the box onto the top shelf. With her back turned, he decided to take this opportunity to reclaim her attention.

Dabi moved in close behind her, pressing himself against her back and taking the box from her hand. He effortlessly slid it onto the top shelf, but did not step back afterwards. Instead, he wrapped both arms around her and buried his face into her pale hair. He could smell the lingering citrus scent of her shampoo and it made him half-grin. "What're you thinking about?"

She tensed and then lowered her head. "D-Dabi…"

"Come on. You can tell me." He leaned down a little and nipped at her ear, drawing a small squeak from her. "Or do you want me to put some thoughts in your head? You think I can make you get a nosebleed?" he teased.

He let his left hand slip down along her side and dug a finger into the waist of her skirt. Sayuri's hips pressed back against his in response and his half-grin spread wider. "Maybe I should aim higher tonight. What would your neighbors do if I got you to scream?"

"Don't say stuff like that!"

Shift P.O.V

She felt guilty about worrying so much about Namimoto. Sayuri knew that Dabi could tell she was still worried. He's trying to cheer me up. Why is he so sweet? Her pulse skipped a beat as she felt warm lips caress the side of her neck.

Biting her lip to smother a whimper, she felt pleasure flood her body and mind. The gentle scrape of metal staples against her skin only seemed to elevate the sensation and she subconsciously ground her bottom against him. The hand near her hip slid further down and he let his fingers hook into the bottom of the short skirt she was wearing. The fabric started to slide upwards as his hand slid inward and soon Sayuri felt his hand firmly planted between her thighs.

His name escaped her lips again and she felt him nuzzle against the side of her neck. Without another word, he grabbed her hand and led her toward her room. Clothes were shed along the way there and soon she found herself settled on Dabi's lap with that certain part of him buried in her heat. Her hands gripped his shoulders, nails gently sinking into his warm, scarred flesh as his hips rolled into hers.

Sayuri leaned down, resting her forehead against his collarbone as he repeated the action again and again. His hands wandered along her sides, staying on her hips for a short while before his arms would momentarily wrap around her and press her close so her chest was against his. She panted quietly, feeling a ball of tension quickly forming in her core.

Fingertips glided along her spine, nails lightly scraping and making her arch her back. Her chest pressed tighter against him and her grip on his shoulders tightened as she felt the tension building more and more. As she neared the edge, she finally allowed a few soft calls of his name to escape. She soon regretted not holding back.

Knowing that she was close to the edge, Dabi smirked and went still. He held her tightly, keeping her from release. Sayuri growled in frustration and dug her nails a little deeper into his shoulders. She pressed her knees into his sides, trying to urge him to continue.

"What? You want more?" he teased, his lips brushing the side of her ear as he leaned down. "Come on. I wanna hear you beg."

"Just…keep going," she mumbled.

"You can do better, right? Let me hear it." Dabi lifted her chin with a finger, making her soft lilac eyes meet his intense turquoise ones. His lips curled into a grin and he traced his thumb along her lower lip. "Come on."

"Ngh. P-please. Please keep going. Please, Dabi." Sayuri was immediately rewarded by his hand dropping down between them, a fingertip pressing at the sensitive area above where he was buried in her. He pressed lightly at first, but slowly increased pressure. He started to rub in a circular motion and Sayuri threw her head back, releasing his name in a moan as her muscles tightened on him.

Dabi felt her body tense and then go lax when her release started to fade. Before she could fully recover, he decided that he had delayed his own release for long enough. Turning them, he put her on her back beneath him and set a pace that was hard and fast. The headboard rocked against the wall over and over as he drove his hips into hers.

Fingertips slid along her legs as he held them open and pressed down. The overstimulation made it difficult for her to keep quiet. She could feel herself being pushed toward another edge and she knew that this time he was not going to stop before it came. To add to the euphoric feeling, his left hand moved away from her leg and cupped her breast, kneading her sensitive flesh and pushing her over the edge.

He continued, still rocking his hips into hers through her release as he moved toward his own. When it hit, he pushed in deep and wrapped an arm around her to keep her pinned against him. Panting, grinning to himself, he released into Sayuri and continued to stay in this position for several minutes afterwards.

When Dabi finally pulled away, he fell onto his side next to her and immediately dozed off. Sayuri leaned down, trailing her fingers through his hair and half-smiling to herself. It was difficult to imagine that someone who looked this cute when he slept was capable of what he just did.

Sayuri frowned as she remembered that they had abandoned the groceries and she got out of bed to finish putting the food away. She stopped in the bathroom to clean up and put on pajamas before making her way to the kitchen. Once again, she was a little amazed by how easily Dabi could distract her.

As she was finishing putting away the groceries, Sayuri's phone began to ring. She dug it out of her jacket pocket on the floor and checked the number on the screen. This is…? Her eyes widened and she answered the call. "Naosu Sayuri speaking."

There was a short moment of hesitation before the caller spoke. "Naosu. Have you had time to think about the offer?"

She vaguely recognized Kurono's voice from her visit to Eri's home. "Oh. Good evening…Kurono-san, right? I haven't had much time to think about it. Chisaki-san just brought it up yesterday. I've thought about it a little, though. I'd like to be able to tutor Eri-chan, but I teach a kindergarten class full time so my schedule is pretty full right now."

"What about like once or twice a week in the afternoon? Or Sundays?"

Sayuri settled on the couch and frowned. "I guess…that could work. Afternoon, if it's just once or twice a week. Chisaki-san would be okay with that?"

"Kai just wants you to tutor the kid. Even if it's just once a week."

Eri's education is that important to him that he's willing to be flexible. Sayuri admired his dedication to his daughter's well-being. "Is he there?"

"He's busy now, but if you're leaning toward "yes", I can have him call you."